Crush roll system



Feb. 21, 1967 A. D. LAYSON ETAL CRUSH ROLL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN JOHN R. CAL ALLEN D. LAYSON ATTORNEY ELL Feb. 21,1967 LAYSO ETAL 3,305,182

CRUSH ROLL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III] m I @//1 1 i"g w a Q i w l5 FIG. 6

INVENTORS JOHN R. CALDWELL ALLEN D. LAYSON ATTORNEY United States Patent3,305,182 CRUSH ROLL SYSTEM Allen D. Layson and John R. Caldwell,Hampton, Ga., assignors to Southern States, Inc., a corporation ofGeorgia Filed Aug. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 393,018 7 Claims. (Cl. 241-232)This invention relates to crush roll systems and more particularly to acrush roll arrangement for use with textile cards.

Known crush rolls for textile cards are arranged so that the carded yarnfrom a card machine is run between the rolls so as to crush and henceremove foreign particles such as dried leaf and stem particles and thelike. While known arrangements perform satisfactorily in removing theforeign particles, such systems frequently cause damage and undesiredchanges to the fiber itself which in turn result in lowered quality ofthe finished product and are characterized by a lack of consistency andreliability in the performance of the crushing operation. Known systemsalso are provided with stationary elements on which fiber accumulatesconstantly. Such fiber eventually falls onto the web of fiber beingprocessed and when it reaches the trumpet at the calender rolls, causesa break in the web because the large mass cannot pass through thetrumpet.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved crushroll system which is characterized by a uniform high quality finishedproduct.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a crush rollarrangement for use with textile cards which arrangement is speciallyconstructed to perform an efficient crushing operation with respect toforeign par ticles desired to be removed and yet which produces a cleanfiber which is the substantial equivalent of fiber produced by anordinary card wherein the foreign particles are not removed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a crush rollarrangement wherein the pressure between the rolls is easily andprecisely adjustable over a wide range of pressure so as to render thesystem readily adaptable to a wide variety of fibers and serviceconditions.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an arrangementwherein relative surface movement between the crushing surfaces of apair of crush rolls is effectively prevented so as to avoid a scrubbingaction and thereby to improve the quality of the finished product.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a system of crushrolls which is peculiarly adaptable to particular service conditions ofa widely diverse nature so as to eliminate interruption in the processdue to breakage of the fiber being processed.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved crush rollsystem for textile cards which utilizes a minimum of exposed stationarysurfaces and which incorporates a special rotatable umbrella rolldisposed above the crush rolls which constantly sheds the accumulatingfibers out the web and thus effectively prevents the sudden andprecipitous deposit of a large accumulation of fiber onto the web beingprocessed and thereby serves to prevent breakage of the web due to thiscause.

A still further object of the invention is to arrange the crush rollsrelative to the comb and doffer so that automatic resumption of thecrushing process is effected should a web severance occur for anyreason.

The invention in one form as applied to a pair of crush rolls comprisesa combination umbrella and pressure roll rotatably mounted on a fixedbearing, a first crush roll in rolling contact with the pressure rolland mounted on bearings which are supported in movable support means,the second crush roll being in rolling 3,305,182 Patented Feb. 21, 1967contact with the first crush roll, and wherein force applying means isarranged to apply an adjustable force to the second crush roll therebyto force both crush rolls toward the pressure roll. In accordance withone facet of the invention, the movable support means for the bearingsand crush rolls is arranged so that changes in the force applied theretodo not affect the positional relationship therebetween. According toanother facet of the invention, the force applying means is arranged sothat adjustments may be made therein during operation of the machine aswell as during periods when the machine is shut down by virtue of areadily adjustable biasing element, the force of which is varied bychanging the relative position of a pair of adjusting elements andwherein the positional relationship of such elements is maintained in adesired relationship by a holding element.

According to another facet of the invention, a pair of scrapers areprovided for engaging and cleaning automatically the crushing surfacesof the crush rolls and a common biasing spring is used to applyuniformly consistent biasing pressure to each roll scraper. According tostill another facet of the invention the combination umbrella andpressure roll is disposed atop the mechanism so that fibers falling onthe mechanism first strike the combination roll which of course isconstantly rotating and thus shedding the fiber at a constant ratethereby avoiding a sudden dumping of a large amount of fiber onto theweb at once. According to yet another feature of the invention, thecrush rolls are disposed close to and slightly below the comb so thatany breakage for any cause the web is temporary and so that prompt andautomatic resumption of the process is effected.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a crushroll system embodying the invention; FIG. 2 is a cross sectional viewtaken along the line 22 as indicated in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspectiveview of a force applying element constituting a facet of the invention;FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 and showing certain portions of thestructure broken away to reveal the internal mechanism; FIG. 5 is an endview of the crush roll system as viewed from the opposite end from thatdepicted in FIG. 1 and showing the relative position of the crush rollsystem with respect to a schematically depicted card; and in which FIG.6 is a top view of the crush roll system.

With reference to FIG. 1, the numeral 1 designates a portion of theframe of the system. It will be understood that the frame 1 is rigidlyattached to or forms a part of the frame of the associated card. Acombination umbrella and pressure roll 2 is rotatably mounted at itsends in bearings 3 which are fixedly secured to frame 1. A first crushroll 4 is mounted at its ends in bearings 5 which in turn are mounted ina pair of movable bearing supports 6 which are pivoted to frame 1 at 7.A second crush roll 8 is rotatably mounted at its ends in bearings 9which are mounted in a pair of movable bearing supports 10. Bearingsupports 10 are pivotally mounted to frame 1 at 11.

For the purpose of imparting crushing force to the crush rolls 4 and 8whereby fiber from card 12 is passed therebetween for the purpose ofremoving impurities by crushing action in known manner, force applyingmeans in the form of a link 13, crank 14 and adjustable biasing imeansgenerally designated at 15 are provided at each end of the rolls. Link13 is pivoted at 16 to an end of bearing support 10 remote from itspivotal mounting 11. Link 13 is pivoted to crank 14 at 17. Crank 14 ispivoted to frame 1 at 18. Crank 14 is pivotally connected to biasingelement 15 at 19. Biasing element 15 is pivotally mounted to the frame 1at 20.

From the structural description thus far, it is apparent that a forceapplied to each crank arm 14 by biasing elements 15 and which tends torotate the crank 14 in a clockwise direction about points 18 as viewedin FIG. 5, tends to impart a .generally upward bodily movement to links13. Such movement of links 13 tends to swing bearing supports in aclockwise direction about the pivotal mounting 11. This tendency ofbearing support 10 and associated structure of course tends to elevatecrush roll 8 into crushing contact with the crush roll 4. Hence bearingsupport 6 and its associated bearing 5 are free to swing about thepivotal mounting 7. Upward movement of links 13 tends to force crushroll 4 into rolling contact with pressure roll 2. Since pressure roll 2is mounted in fixed bearings 3, the overall effect of the bias ofbiasing elements is simply to control the crushing force between thefirst crush roll 4 and the second crush roll 8.

In order to minimize the effects of wear of the pressure roll 2 it maybe desirable to dispose the axis of pressure roll 2 at an angle withrespect to the axes of crush rolls 4 and 8 as best shown in FIG. 6. Thussince the pressure roll 2 is considerably shorter than the crush rolls 4and 8 which are of equal length, it is apparent that contact between thepressure roll 2 and the crush roll 4 is only at the midportion of theserolls. Furthermore, it is apparent that any wearing will not result in asudden ridge or change in the surface of crush roll 4. Thus as weartakes place over a period of time, uniform contact between rolls 4 and 8may readily be maintained by simply adjusting the bias of biasingelements 15.

Biasing elements 15 may be adjusted for the purpose of adapting thesystem to a particular fiber and to particular pressure and crush rollsurface conditions over a wide range of circumstances.

As can best be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the crush rolls 4 and 8 areprovided with driving means in the form of a sprocket 21 afiixed to theshaft 22 of one of a conventional pair of calender rolls 23 normallyused in conjunction with conventional cards such as are designated bythe numeral 12 in the drawing. Of course calender roll 23 cooperateswith a similar calender roll 24. A driving chain 25 is disposed aboutsprocket 21 and imparts rotary motion to a sprocket 26' affixed to shaft27 of the second crush roll 8. Affixed to shaft 27 is a driving pinion28 which is provided with teeth which mesh with a driven pinion 29afiixed to shaft 30 of crush roll 4. Thus rotation of the calender roll23 and associated parts results in the application of a positive drivingforce to the crush rolls 4 and 8. In this manner the contacting crushingsurfaces of the crush rolls 4 and 8 are driven at uniform constant speedat all times so that relative motion therebetween is prohibited. In thisway a scrubbing action of the fiber being forced between the rolls 4 and8 is prevented and a uniform condition and quality of the finishedproduct insured.

As can best be seen from FIG. 4 each adjustable biasing means 15 formingan integral part of the force applying means comprises a compressionspring 31 mounted about a stem 32 which in turn is afiixed by a pin 33to the pivot block 34 having pivot pin 20 disposed therein. Biasingspring 31 engages one end of a movable force applying generallycup-shaped element 35 which is slidably mounted on pin 32. As can bestbe seen in FIG. 3 the slidable biasing element 35 is provided with pivotmeans 19 which engages the corresponding pivotal part 19 of crank 14 asalready explained. The left hand end of spring 31 as viewed in FIG. 4engages surface 36 of a cup-like adjusting element 37 having inclinedadjusting surfaces 38 and 39 disposed about its outer periphery and atits left hand end. Cooperating with adjusting element 37 is an adjustingelement 40 having inclined adjusting surfaces 41 and 42 which cooperatewith the inclined surfaces 38 and 39 of adjusting element 37. Dis- 4posed at the left hand end of adjusting element 40 is a serrated surface43 which cooperates with 3. corresponding surface of holding element 44securely afiixed to stem 32 by suitable means such as by weldingadjacent the head 45 of pin 32.

In order to increase the bias imparted at pivot 19 to crank 14, theadjusting element 40 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction asviewed for example in FIG. 3. Such rotation causes the inclined surfaces41 and 42 of adjusting element 40 to ride up hill relative to theinclined adjusting surfaces 38 and 39 of adjusting element 37. Suchaction forces adjusting element 37 downwardly and toward the right asviewed in FIGS. 3 and 4 thereby increasing the bias of biasing spring 31and the resulting force on cup-shaped biasing element 35 toward theright. In this manner crank .14 is subjected to a moment which as viewedin FIG. 5 tends to impart clockwise rotation thereto about its fulcrum18. As already explained such a force tends to elevate the associatedlink 13 bodily and to increase the crushing force between the engagingsurfaces of crush rolls 4 and 8. Of course movement of adjusting element40 in a clockwise direction as viewed for example in FIG. 3 reduces thecrushing force between rolls 4 and 8.

As the fiber leaves the cylinder of the card 12 due to the action of thecomb 46 as shown in FIG. 5, it passes directly to and between the crushrolls 4 and 8. It is possible that the extreme edges of the fiber maytend to become entangled in moving parts. To prevent the edges of thefiber from becoming entangled with moving parts, a pair of shields 47and 48 are mounted on the frame 1 to isolate the fiber from the movingparts.

The edges of the web may become frayed. In order to consolidate thefrayed edges and to prevent the start of tears at the edges, 21 pair ofbevel-shaped guides 49 and 51 are used.

For cleaning the crush rolls 4 and 8 a pair of scrapers 51 and 52 areprovided for the rolls 4 and 8 respectively, as viewed in FIG. 2.Scraper 51 is provided with a blade 53 and is pivoted at 54 to theframe 1. Likewise, scraper 52 is provided with a blade 55 and is pivotedto the frame 1 at 56. The scrapers may be cleaned quickly and easilywhile the machine is running by simply unloading the springs andswinging the scrapers away from their respective rolls.

Since the rolls 4 and 8 rotate in opposite directions, the scrapers andtheir blades are arranged oppositely so that a common biasing elementsuch as 57 may be utilized to maintain the blades in secure engagementwith their associated rolls. Preferably the tension spring 57 isprovided with a protective tubular sleeve 58 arranged in any suitablemanner as shown for example in FIG. 2.

From the description above it is apparent that the crush roll system ofthis invention is peculiarly adapted to maintain a desired crushingpressure between the rolls 4 and 8 and that these rolls are driven insuch a way as to prevent any relative sliding motion therebetween. Inview of this facet of the invention the quality of the fiber afterremoval of the foreign particles therefrom due to passage between rolls4 and 8 is greatly improved and is maintained at a uniform quality.Furthermore, since the bearing supports 5 and 10 are arranged so thattheir pivot points 7 and 11 and their associated bearings 5 and 9 formthe sides of a parallelogram, the rolls 4 and 8 are always maintained ina predetermined relationship. For this reason adjustments in pressure donot effect changes and other variables which might have a deleteriouseffect on the finished product and might impede the efficacy of theprocedure of cleaning the fiber by the crush roll system of thisinvention. a

From FIG. 5 it is apparent that the point of removal of the fiber fromthe dotfer 12 immediately adjacent the comb 46 is close to andimmediately above roll 8 so that a break or hole in the web occurringbetween the comb 46 and the crush rolls does not interrupt the processsince the web coming from the doifer simply falls on the roll 8 and theweb is thus immediately and automatically drawn between the crush rolls4 and 8. If a sudden air current causes the Web to engage the roll 4 dueto breakage of the web, the roll 4 will simply draw the web between therolls 4 and 8. In this connection, the fact that the axes of all therolls are aligned at an angle as shown in FIG. 2 is believed tocontribute to the automatic resumption of processing of a broken websince the rolls 4 and 8 act as a shelf to receive a broken end of web asit comes from the doffer.

The pressure roll 2, being disposed atop the mechanism and beingconstantly rotating serves to shed fiber from the air onto the lowerrolls or onto the web at a constant rate. Thus the pressure roll 2 alsoperforms an umbrella function and prevents the sudden dumping of largeaccumulations of fiber onto the web which will break the web because ofthe inability to pass through the trumpet.

While a particular arrangement has been shown and described, theinvention is not limited thereto and it is intended in the appendedclaims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A crush roll system comprising a support frame, a pressure rollrotatably mounted on said frame, a first pair of bearings movablymounted on said frame, a first crush roll rotatably mounted in saidfirst pair of bearings and in rolling contact with said pressure roll, asecond pair of bearings movably mounted on said frame, a second crushroll rotatably mounted in said second pair of bearings and disposed inrolling contact with said first crush roll, and force applying meansconnected with said second pair of bearings for urging said second crushroll toward said first crush roll and for urging said first crush rollinto rolling contact with said pressure roll whereby crushing force isimparted to said crush rolls, the axes of said crush rolls beingsubstantially parallel and the axis of said pressure roll being disposedat an angle to the axes of said crush rolls whereby contact between saidfirst crush roll and said pressure roll is at the midportions thereof.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the pressure roll isdisposed generally above the crush rolls so that rotation of saidpressure roll causes fibers from the air to be shed and deposited on theweb at a constant slow rate rather than precipitously at spacedintervals. i

3. A crush roll system comprising a support frame, a pressure rollrotatably mounted on said frame, a first pair of bearings movablymounted on said frame, a first crush roll rotatably mounted in saidfirst pair of bearings and in rolling contact with said pressure roll, asecond pair of bearings movably mounted on said frame, a second crushroll rotatably mounted in said second pair of bearings and disposed inrolling contact with said first.

crush roll, a bearing support for each of said bearings, said bearingsupports being pivotally mounted on said frame, crank means pivotallymounted on said frame, biasing means arranged to impart a moment to saidcrank means, and linkage means pivotally connected to said crank meansand to said bearing supports for said second crush roll whereby saidsecond crush roll is urged toward said first crush roll and said firstcrush roll is urged into rolling contact with said pressure roll therebyto impart crushing force to said crush rolls.

4. A system according to claim 3 wherein said biasing means comprisesspring means and relatively rotatable and axially movable adjustingelements for varying the bias of said spring means.

5. An arrangement according to claim 4- wherein a holding element isarranged to engage one of said adjusting elements for securing a desiredpositional relationship between said adjusting elements.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5 wherein said holding element isprovided with a serrated surface for engaging a serrated surface of saidone adjusting element under the force of said spring means and therebyto maintain a desired crushing force on said crush rolls.

7. An arrangement according to claim 3 wherein said adjusting elementsare provided With mating inclined surfaces for imparting relative axialmovement to said adjusting elements in coordination with relativerotation thereof thereby to vary the bias of said spring means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 133,832 12/1872Comstock 19-106 373,408 11/1887 Mawhood 241167 X 1,553,643 9/1925 Steele19106 1,579,998 4/1926 Becker et a1. 241-232 2,854,700 10/1958 Caspariet al 1965 X FOREIGN PATENTS 274,784 7/ 1927 Great Britain.

ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner.

1. A CRUSH ROLL SYSTEM COMPRISING A SUPPORT FRAME, A PRESSURE ROLLROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A FIRST PAIR OF BEARINGS MOVABLYMOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A FIRST CRUSH ROLL ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAIDFIRST PAIR OF BEARINGS AND IN ROLLING CONTACT WITH SAID PRESSURE ROLL, ASECOND PAIR OF BEARINGS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A SECOND CRUSHROLL ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID SECOND PAIR OF BEARINGS AND DISPOSED INROLLING CONTACT WITH SAID FIRST CRUSH ROLL, AND FORCE APPLYING MEANSCONNECTED WITH SAID SECOND PAIR OF BEARINGS FOR URGING SAID SECOND CRUSHROLL TOWARD SAID FIRST CRUSH ROLL AND FOR URGING SAID FIRST CRUSH ROLLINTO ROLLING CONTACT WITH SAID PRESSURE ROLL WHEREBY CRUSHING FORCE ISIMPARTED TO SAID CRUSH ROLLS, THE AXES OF SAID CRUSH ROLLS BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL AND THE AXIS OF SAID PRESSURE ROLL BEING DISPOSEDAT AN ANGLE TO THE AXES OF SAID CRUSH ROLLS WHEREBY CONTACT BETWEEN SAIDFIRST CRUSH ROLL AND SAID PRESSURE ROLL IS AT THE MIDPORTIONS THEREOF.